Last night I made a version of bolognese sauce that is meant to be a little lighter than the traditional kind in that it uses ground turkey and turkey bacon instead of beef and pancetta. The recipe comes courtesy of Emeril Lagasse and was really fun to make—what can I say, I like recipes that require you to keep adding stuff to a pot and waiting for each to become incorporated.
I thought it was delicious, but my family was less enthusiastic. Andy wanted more flavor (like, from beef and pancetta...), and the kids were a little weirded out by all the extraneous "stuff" (read: vegetables). I still think it's a terrific recipe, though, and perhaps we could tinker with it to get more flavor out of it. For instance, maybe keeping the ground turkey but using pancetta instead of the turkey bacon? Anyhow, here it is:
Turkey Bolognese
¼ cup chopped parsley
In a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp, 10–12 minutes. (My turkey bacon was so lean that I needed to add a little olive oil to prevent it from burning.) Add onion, carrots, and celery; season with coarse salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, 8–10 minutes.
I would think some dried oregano and/or basil would add some flavor. Also, a pinch of cayenne would make me happy if I were eating it.
Posted by: Janeen | May 30, 2009 at 10:22 AM
We made a mushroom ragu for the vegetarians in our Italian series. The bang of 'meaty' flavour came from dried porcini. Soaked and added. We also used the strained soaking liquid. If the kids won't eat the shrooms, perhaps reduced porcini liquid would give you that bang.
Posted by: jo | May 30, 2009 at 10:28 AM